Not the Sink

This is not a post about sink repair, though that is a picture of the Mister repairing our yellow sink in the bathroom off the laundry room. You can see glimpses of it in this post. Redecorating the bathroom was on my list of dream projects for October, but we got as far as repairing a drip in the sink and replacing the fixtures. This was one of the back up posts I had in the event I got to sick too do a project.

I’m still sick, by the way. After a month of succumbing to the same sore throat and congestion every few days, I finally broke down and called the doctor. I’d like to blame my delay on any number of reasons–Nicholas having croup all of last week is a good one–but, really, I just didn’t make the effort. I felt well enough to get by, so I put it off until I couldn’t. I’m pretty sure this is the same awesome wellness technique employed by 95% of the population.

That same attitude permeates a lot of my life. It’s funny that a perfectionist can be so lackadaisical about things like messy drawers and doctor appointments. Like Wednesday, for example. I spent time on the laundry room working on what I thought were finishing touches. No.

Lately, I haven’t been as fastidious about my project lists.

When I got ready to take pictures, I realized I forgot to buy outlet covers. I never hung the iron and ironing board rack, or the rack to hang keys and keep mail. The caddy next to the laundry machines still needs to be decluttered and wiped down.

I debated taking pictures of what was done and calling it good with a promise to finish up the little details at a later time. Much like my sinuses, the laundry room is good enough to get by.

If I learned anything by going through my house this year, it’s that I lose interest when a project hits “almost done.” I wave my hands and say good enough! In short, I never get to those finishing touches. I have no idea how to fix that except to assign myself a due date because for some reason, I do really well with tasks, deadlines, and assignments.

The Laundry Room will be finished, photographed, and published on November 29, 2012. The week of Thanksgiving I’ll spend cooking.

I almost didn’t publish this post–a post not about a sink? what?–but I wasn’t sure if some of you were working on projects this week and hoping to link up. I hope so! You all have to link to your posts so that this post becomes almost interesting by association. I’m counting on you, team.

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This post was part of The William Morris Project, a weekly series that details the steps I am taking to create an intentional home. You can see more of my goals and completed projects here. To learn more about this project, start here.

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Now itís your turn! Feel free to share how you have lived according to the William Morris quote, ďHave nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.Ē Made a plan? Cleaned a drawer? Bought a sofa? Tell us about it with a link or comment. A few guidelines:

Please link to a specific post, not a general blog address.

Your post must relate to your efforts to create an intentional home. I have a delete button, and Iím not afraid to use it.

No links to giveaways, please.

Letís use this weekly link up as an opportunity to gather inspiration and motivation. Click links. Discover new people. Say hi and good job. I know I will.

I have your same approach to home repair and personal wellness. Not that that’s an endorsement of your methods (:-)); just want you to know you have company. Hope you’re feeling better soon. Home repair can wait. It always waits. It will wait forever. (Unless it’s a burst pipe or some such, of course. Then it will come knocking at the worst time–like the night before Thanksgiving!)

Hope you feel better soon! My problem is I ONLY want to do the finishing touches – the fun stuff – and I have to keep myself from taking too many shortcuts to get there. I do really like that yellow sink!

Invariably something is incomplete. Part of it is motherhood: so many extra hands that undo – at high speed – anything that gets done. But it’s very much my own nature, taking on projects too large or for which I need more materials. Through the past month or so, to teach myself to finish up, I have been crocheting very small things. Even though I keep on ongoing project in my car (why waste time in the carpool line when I can do a row?), I have started and finished several things: bowls, wine coasters, a hat. Maybe there is some truth to the saying “use your muscles to teach your mind”. The point, of course, is to get this to overlap onto other parts of my life – like emptying the dishwasher and clearing my desk at work.

I love this post – I do that all the time. Start things and then get sidetracked and sometimes never come back to it. I am trying to add more handmade things into the mix this year. I linked up to my hand-painted holiday pillow (a Target knock-off) that I am proud to say I finished!! :) Thanks for the post! Always love reading your blog.
– Claire

I recently came across your blog and subscribed due largely to your WM Project. I fight a constant struggle against too much stuff, and I’ve recently faced the facts that it is solely up to me to make my home a place I love. I’m enjoying all the inspiration I am finding here, and can’t wait to check out the links as well!

(And I SO get you on the “all but finishing details” thing. Nearly two weeks ago, I spent a most of a Saturday cleaning out my craft/storage closet. I got the floor and three shelves purged and reorganized with great results. I ran out of time on the very top shelf, with all my wrapping paper, boxes, etc….and I just CANNOT make myself go back and finish it. I’m going to use your trick and set a deadline–I will have it finished by Sunday night!)

I too share the “good enough” philosophy. I feel better about myself if I at least start something, but then never care to finish it. I think I need to start using your trick. Glad to know I am not alone!

I think many of us find ourselves in those situations (both in health and projects) I will say however, that even the professionals have a “punch list” to make sure all the nitty gritty details get done and I’ve started to apply that idea to my tasks. Before starting I sit in the room with a clipboard and blank piece of paper and write down everything that needs to be done to complete the project. Then the crazy side of me goes and turns it into an excel document complete with little check boxes so we can check off the tasks and I know everything has been handled. I know it’s comical to some, but for me (and my husband) it’s allowed us to get all the way to the finish line when we weren’t getting there before. Hope you feel better soon!

I also do really well with tasks, deadlines, and assignments. So much so that when I make a seemingly overwhelming list of tasks to do on a Saturday or Sunday (usually normal housework that was procrastinated throughout the week!), I assign times of which each thing will be completed by. Sometimes it takes longer to do something than I expected, and I rush to finish the next thing. It really helps keep me on track.

I also do really well with rewards. So when I finish those big lists, I have a reward jotted down on the last line. Yay!

Luckily my husband is very Type A when it comes to powering through and pushing me to complete home projects — at least the large, very visible ones. The small ones that mostly live in my head are another matter!

Hi Jules ! ….although I would prefer to call you JEWELS…You are a jewel !!
My friend Janet from House Four sent me to your blog and I LOVE LOVE LOVE it. I added a blog post into the linky – what fun ! It is my first time participating in a link partaaaay. I am a virgin linky gal :) I hope I didn’t screw it up.
Cheers to you my fellow blogger. You rock out loud !
Big fat hugs !
Lynne :)